Unibat System

The Unibat system is a modular system which was developed in France by S. Du Chateau in 1959. This system was made of pyramid units with square, triangular or hexagonal base interconnected by a single horizontal bolt at each upper corner. However, the bottom layer members were connected to each other using single vertical bolts. The top layer of this system was made of I-sections with the bracings made of square tubes and the bottom layer from round tubes.

Two-way or three-way grids could be created with this system, with the diagonal-on-square offset configuration being the most economical choice. The typical module sizes of this system had depths of 30 in., 48 in., and 60 in., with all components being hot dip-galvanized. Depending on the site conditions, parts of the spatial structure were sometimes assembled and erected using temporary supports, and were connected to each other in the air.

It had been claimed that the system is stiffer than other similar prefabricated modular spatial structural systems.

The erection sequence for the Unibat system is as follows:

1. The site used for the assembly is leveled.
2. The bottom layer is placed in to form a square grid.
3. The units are placed on the grids in upside down orientation.
4. Using high strength bolts the adjacent units are connected to each other at their corners. The units are also connected to the bottom layer members.
5. The assembled part is lifted to its final location.